Department for Transport

Railways: Freight

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement in the National Networks National Policy Statement that if freight carried by rail was to increase by 50 per cent (in terms of tonne kilometres) this would only be equivalent to a reduction of around seven percent in goods carried by road, whether in calculating that ratio consideration was given to the issue of rail freight only being a viable alternative to the longest and heaviest loads.

Baroness Kramer: The figure quoted was calculated by comparing the amount of freight moved by rail in Great Britain with the amount moved by heavy goods vehicles by road. As it is measured in tonne kilometres it takes into account both the distance travelled by the freight and its weight. The National Policy Statement supports the development of a robust infrastructure network of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges in order to reduce road congestion, and deliver goods quickly and efficiently by rail, reduce carbon emissions, support growth and create employment. It aims to ensure we have modern distribution centres linked into both the rail and trunk road system in appropriate locations to serve our major conurbations.

Railways: North of England

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of (1) the types of routes on which Pacer units are regularly used by Northern Rail, and (2) the types of rolling stock that could be appropriate for those services as replacements for Pacers within the new franchise.

Baroness Kramer: Pacers are used by Northern Rail on a diverse mix of rural and urban routes. In a number of cases, they are used to provide additional peak capacity on busy commuter routes. It will be for bidders for the new franchise to consider which rolling stock types might be appropriate as replacements for Pacers, subject to meeting the requirements of the specification that the Department will set out in the Invitation to Tender, but bidders may conclude that different rolling stock types – or rolling stock with different internal layouts – may be suitable for the various types of route on which Pacers are deployed.

Driving: Licensing

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which countries outside the European Union driving licences may be used to drive in the United Kingdom without sitting a United Kingdom driving test.

Baroness Kramer: Residents who hold a driving licence issued by a designated country may exchange that licence for a GB equivalent without the need to take a further driving test here. Designation of a country is based on an assessment of driver training and testing standards, which must be comparable with those in this country. The following are designated countries for driving licence exchange purposes in Great Britain: Andorra, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Zimbabwe. All visitors and new residents who hold a valid driving licence issued outside the European Union and have the relevant entitlement can drive cars and motorcycles in GB for 12 months. After this 12-month period, non-EU visitors and residents must apply for a provisional driving licence and pass a driving test in the UK to be able to continue to drive here. This arrangement is for small vehicles only and does not include driving larger vehicles like buses and lorries. In Northern Ireland, driver licensing is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. The designation of countries outside the EU for driver licence purposes is therefore a decision for the relevant department in Northern Ireland.

British Transport Police

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 19 January (HL4148), whether British Transport Police officers regularly patrol outside the boundaries of rail stations where people make onward journeys.

Baroness Kramer: The British Transport Police (BTP) does not routinely patrol these areas. However, it does carry out policing beyond the railway when called upon to do so by Home Office forces or when engaging in multi-agency policing operations with a wider footprint than a rail location or when required to do so when responding to a spontaneous incident requiring an immediate police response. More generally, the BTP works in close partnership with local Home Office policing teams, Council Street Wardens and transport organisations to share intelligence and plan patrol strategies, and on the design and execution of police operations.

Northern Ireland Office

Parades: Belfast

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 15 January (HL3951), what groups supported the setting up of a panel on parading in North Belfast and which groups did not.

Baroness Randerson: The SDLP, Sinn Fein and nationalist residents groups had stated publicly that they would not engage with the proposed panel on parading in north Belfast announced by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 7th October 2014. Ballysillan LOL 1891 and the West Belfast UPRG also issued statements rejecting the proposed panel.Other unionist groupings have indicated that they would have been prepared to support the panel, but only if they had confidence in the panel members appointed.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 15 January (HL3950), why she did not answer the question asked; and whether the issue of human rights in the Republic of Ireland was discussed in the talks leading to the Stormont House Agreement.

Baroness Randerson: The issues discussed in the recent cross-party talks were selected from a number of topics put forward by the parties represented in the Northern Ireland Executive. The discussions were confidential, but the agreement reached does not touch on human rights in the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 19 January (HL3949) concerning the government of the Republic of Ireland and the Stormont House Agreement, on what basis the involvement of the Republic of Ireland is consistent with the three-stranded approach to Northern Ireland affairs; when that approach was established; and in what other talks the government of the Republic of Ireland has been involved under this approach.

Baroness Randerson: The three-stranded framework emerged during political negotiations in the 1990s that eventually led to the 1998 Belfast Agreement. Strand One relates to the internal affairs of Northern Ireland, Strand Two deals with relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and Strand Three relations between the UK and Irish Governments. In practice, this has meant the Government of the Republic of Ireland not being involved in negotiations relating to Strand One issues.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 19 January (HL3949) concerning the government of the Republic of Ireland and the Stormont House Agreement, whether the government of the Republic of Ireland was involved in all the topics discussed.

Baroness Randerson: The Irish Government was not involved in all of the subjects discussed in the cross-party talks that led to the Stormont House Agreement. Its involvement was consistent with the well-established three-stranded approach to Northern Ireland affairs, meaning that the internal arrangements for Northern Ireland are for the UK Government and the Northern Ireland parties alone.

Government Departments: Staff

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff were employed in the Northern Ireland Office on 1 January in each of the last ten years.

Baroness Randerson: Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), the NIO does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.The figures below are taken from the NIO annual report and accounts for 2010/11 to 2013/14 and show both directly employed and seconded staff working in the core NIO.Reporting YearsNumber of Directly Employed StaffNumber of Seconded StaffOverall Staff Numbers2010/1179851642011/1285691542012/1393721652013/14101621632015*10330133* The 2015 figure is as of 22 January 2015.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Barclays

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions ministers and officials at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have had with Barclays Bank about the planned closure of rural branches, in particular at St Agnes, Cornwall, which is the only bank located in that community.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Officials at the Department have discussed with Barclays Bank the rationale for the planned closure of the branch in St Agnes, Cornwall, and the steps that are being taken to ensure that local resident’s banking needs can continue to be met.   The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills has also held a recent roundtable with the banks, the Post Office, regulators, consumer groups and organisations representing vulnerable groups to identify ways of maintaining access to banking services for all communities in the context of branch closures and technological change. A further roundtable has been organised to review progress.

Personal Care Services: Apprentices

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many and what proportion of (1) 16 year-olds, (2) 17 year-olds, and (3) 18 year-olds started an apprenticeship in England in 2012–13 and 2013–14 in hairdressing and barbering.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Table one shows the number apprenticeship starts for ages 16, 17 and 18 in 2012/13 and 2013/14 in the hairdressing and barbering frameworks. Information on the proportion of each age group that start an apprenticeship is not available from the official data.   Table 1 Apprenticeship Starts by Age and Framework, 2012/13 to 2013/14 FrameworkAge2012/132013/14Barbering16701001720018018360350Hairdressing164,1003,890173,1703,200183,1003,060 Notes 1) The source is the Individualised Learner Record. 2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. 3) Age is calculated based on age at start of the programme.

Department for Education

Internet: Bullying

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Ariel Trust’s recent pilot scheme to teach every primary school pupil how to tackle cyberbullying within Liverpool, what plans they have to tackle cyberbullying in schools across England.

Lord Nash: The Government believes that schools, internet providers and parents all have a role to play in keeping children and young people safe online.   All schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying, including cyberbullying, and they are held closely to account by Ofsted. The Department for Education has issued advice to schools on preventing and tackling bullying and on supporting bullied children which includes cyberbullying. We have also recently issued advice aimed at parents on how to keep children safe online, spot the signs that a child may be being cyberbullied and what to do if it happens.   In addition, e-safety is being taught at all four key stages of the curriculum and covers responsible, respectful and secure use of technology. Pupils are also taught age-appropriate ways of reporting any concerns they may have about what they see or encounter online.   The Department is also providing around £4 million in funding to various anti-bullying organisations, such as the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children's Bureau (NCB), who work in schools to combat bullying, including cyberbullying. The NCB has produced a guide for schools on preventing and tackling cyberbullying of children with a special educational need or disability who are especially vulnerable to this form of bullying. Furthermore, we are currently considering bids through a £25 million voluntary and community sector grant programme to extend the work being done by anti-bullying charities in schools. A £2 million grant is being offered in conjunction with the Government Equalities Office to support projects which tackle specifically homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.   More widely, the Government continues to work to protect children online through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) which brings together representatives from government, industry, law enforcement, academia, charities and parenting groups.

School Leaving

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of 17 year-olds in England are participating in education and training in fulfilment of the duty to participate set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, and what steps they are taking to maximise participation from September 2015 when the requirement to participate increases to the 18th birthday.

Lord Nash: Young people who were aged 17 at the start of this academic year were covered by the first phase of raising the participation age (RPA) set out in the Education and Skills Act 2008. This required them to continue in education or training for one further year, to 27 June 2014. This cohort is therefore no longer under a duty to participate, although we expect that the vast majority of them will continue to participate this academic year.Data showing the proportion of these young people participating in the current academic year will be published as part of the 16-18 participation statistical first release at the end of June.Young people who were aged 16 at the start of this academic year will be under a duty to participate until their 18th birthday. We will encourage schools, colleges and training providers to ensure that young people are aware of this requirement.In addition, local authorities have a duty to promote the effective participation in education and training of 16 and 17 year olds in their area with a view to ensuring that they fulfil the duty to participate.We plan to invest £7.2 billion in 2014/15 to fund education and training places for 16 to 19-year-olds. The government has implemented a range of other measures to promote participation and help young people get the best possible start in life, including the reform of vocational education and the Youth Contract.

English Language: Education

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 January (HL3983), why the section of the National Curriculum in England framework document entitled "Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation" contains detailed material on the latter two subjects but nothing on the first.

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 January (HL3982 and HL3983), where in any of the National Curriculum documents of recent years there appear Programmes of Study on vocabulary that provide the degree of informed and specialised detail together with clear guidance on progression accorded to spelling and grammar.

Lord Nash: Vocabulary development is embedded with the information on grammar in the section of the National Curriculum framework document entitled ‘Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation’, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.   The National Curriculum framework does not contain a separate programme of study for vocabulary, nor did it in draft form. Vocabulary development is instead emphasised and integrated throughout the programmes of study, and linked to reading, writing and spelling. Reading widely and often, together with reading for pleasure, is also reinforced throughout the programmes of study, and attention to the quantity and quality of reading will support vocabulary development.   The National Curriculum framework sets a clear expectation that teachers develop pupils’ vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge.

Teachers: Males

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 16 January (HL4047) concerning numbers of male and female teachers in primary and secondary schools, what action they intend to take to increase the proportion of men to at least 40 per cent of the total number of teachers.

Lord Nash: We value diversity in the workforce but want the best people in the classroom regardless of their gender. Evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single most important factor in schools that determines how well pupils achieve. Teaching continues to be a hugely popular career with more teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession. We are pleased that the quality of entrants to initial teacher training, as measured by degree class, remains high, with 17% of postgraduate entrants, a new record, holding a first class degree. The Government continues to take decisive action to ensure we have high quality teachers in classrooms across the country.

Classroom Assistants

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures available for the number of male and female teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales.

Lord Nash: The following table provides the full-time equivalent (FTE)[1] and headcount number1 of male and female teaching assistants in service in publicly funded primary and secondary schools in England, November 2013.   Education matters in Wales are a responsibility of the Welsh Government.FTEHeadcount   Primary[2] [3]156,240257,330Male6,7009,780Female149,500247,500   Secondary354,35070,690Male9,11011,140Female45,20059,500 Teaching assistant numbers are published in table 3a of the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2013’, published online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013  [1] Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 teachers.[2] Includes local authority maintained nursery schools.[3] Includes gender unknown.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the expected shortfall of school places by 2023 they consider to be due to net migration between 1997 and 2014.

Lord Nash: The Government does not hold this data.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to exempt special education and disability services from the 2004 European Union Procurement Directives and the Children and Families Act 2014; what plans they have to reduce bureaucratic procedures for authorities and schools trying legally to place children with special needs; and what plans they have to safeguard the principle of parental choice within their special educational needs and disability policies.

Lord Nash: The EU Directive 2014/24 on Public Procurement replaces the previous Directive (2004/18). The Department for Education will be implementing the 2014 Directive through new Public Contracts Regulations, on which we consulted last year. The Directive and the Regulations will raise the financial threshold above which EU wide procurement for social, health and educational services must take place and will introduce a new ‘light touch regime’ for procurement of these services. These measures will reduce the current burden on local authorities and schools. The Crown Commercial Service will shortly issue guidance to local authorities. This guidance will cover the interaction between public procurement and user choice. The new Regulations will continue to allow for the preferences of parents/carers and young people which is an integral feature of the Education, Health and Care Plan process set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.

Primary Education: Free School Meals

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are putting in place to help infants schools that are struggling to provide universal free school meals due to overstretched equipment or logistical problems.

Lord Nash: We have provided substantial support to help schools deliver this policy. We have already allocated £150 million capital funding to universal infant free school meals and are now providing an additional £24.5 million for individual school projects to ensure that the meals provided are of high quality, and particularly that all schools are able to offer hot meals. We recognise that some smaller schools may face particular challenges and have therefore allocated a further £22.5 million transitional funding in 2014-15 to help schools with 150 pupils or fewer to implement the policy. Each qualifying small school received a minimum of £3000. This is in addition to the £1.2 billion in general capital funding for school maintenance and improvements made available to local authorities this year. We have also set up an implementation support service, staffed by school food experts, which schools can contact for advice and support to help them overcome any issues they encounter. This service will continue to be available to schools until the end of 2015.

Ministry of Defence

Bahrain

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk that Bahrain’s security services are being infiltrated by supporters of Daesh, and the consequent advisability both of training those services and of basing United Kingdom naval forces in Bahrain.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Ministry of Defence keeps the security situation in Bahrain under regular review, in order to inform all decisions on security measures for deployed personnel and on co-operation with Bahrain Defence Forces.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rights of Way

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of historic rights of way which will not have been recorded by the time of the cut-off in 2026, broken down by (1) routes where claims have been submitted, and (2) routes for which claims have not been submitted.

Lord De Mauley: The Government has not made any assessment of the number of historical public rights of way which will not have been recorded by the time of the cut-off date in 2026. Any assessment would depend on a number of unknown variables and could only be made at a disproportionate cost.

Home Office

Drugs: Crime

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were arrested for human trafficking offences (1) during the Metropolitan Police's Operation Pibera, and (2) during similar operations across the United Kingdom which targeted criminals who use children to traffic drugs across county boundaries.

Lord Bates: The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. However, the Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed that, where a child is forced to move drugs and there is sufficient evidence, those responsible may be arrested for human trafficking offences.

Licensing Laws

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to reduce late night drunkenness and disorderly behaviour in public places by encouraging local and licensing authorities to order the closure of public houses and clubs where clients cause such a disturbance and place demands on public services.

Lord Bates: The Minister for Crime Prevention wrote to chief executives of local authorities in England and Wales and Police and Crime Commissioners in December about the Government’s recent actions to enable local authorities to address alcohol harms. The Minister encouraged the use of a number of powers including the early morning alcohol restriction order (EMRO) which enables local councils to restrict the sale of alcohol in the early hours and the closure power in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This can be used if the local authority or police have reason to believe that the use of premises has, or is likely to, result in nuisance to members of the public or disorder nearby. Licensing authorities also have the power to review a premises licence if they or a responsible authority (which includes the police, health bodies and environmental health authorities) have evidence that a premises' activities undermines one of the four licensing objectives (the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm). The Government also lowered the evidence threshold so that a review of a premises licence can be undertaken where it is 'appropriate' rather than 'necessary' for the promotion of the licensing objectives.

HM Treasury

Financial Services: Pay

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Bank of England’s fair and effective markets review will consider the level of bonuses paid to individuals working in the fixed income, commodities and currency markets; and how institutions fined for practices in those areas have dealt with the payments made to such individuals.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their evaluation of progress in changing the culture in the banking sector in the United Kingdom.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has considered investigating the conduct or operation of the boards of any of the companies that have been fined for practices relating to LIBOR, gold price fixing or foreign exchange manipulation.

Lord Deighton: The Government has taken a substantial number of measures to change the culture in UK banking.   This Government supported the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards which reported in June 2013 on professional standards and culture of the UK banking sector. Legislation to give effect to its recommendations on banking standards and individual accountability were included in the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013. The Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Treasury worked through 2014 to prepare secondary legislation, regulatory rules and other detailed implementing measures. The Government expects to announce the final timetable for implementing these reforms shortly.   In the Financial Services Act 2012, this Government introduced a new criminal offence to address the issue of the manipulation of the LIBOR interest rate benchmark. In December 2014 the government announced that this offence would be extended to cover a further seven financial benchmarks from, subject to Parliamentary approval, 1 April 2015.   We also recognise that there is more to do if the banking industry and global financial markets are to regain public trust. The Chancellor of the Exchequer therefore announced in his Mansion House speech in June 2014 a Treasury, Bank of England and FCA review of the operation of the foreign exchange, fixed income and commodity markets. The Fair and Effective Markets Review will examine how trust and credibility in these markets can be restored. The review will report in June 2015.   In November 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in co-ordination with financial regulators in the US and Switzerland, announced the outcome of its investigations into attempted manipulation of foreign exchange markets by 5 banks. It imposed penalties on 5 banks totalling £1.11 billion. In addition the Director of the Serious Fraud Office opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market in July 2014. The Government does not comment on ongoing investigations, so as not to prejudice these inquiries.   Ensuring that firms incentivise employees to behave in the right way is essential to restoring public trust in financial services. The Fair & Effective Markets Review’s scope covers trading practices in markets, and drivers of behaviour including incentives for individuals. In November 2014 the Chancellor wrote to the Governor of the Bank of England to ask that the increasing levels of fixed remuneration in the financial sector following the introduction of the ‘bonus cap’ be considered as part of this work.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Wind Power

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of electricity was generated from wind farms in the week ending 18 January 2015.

Baroness Verma: During the week ending 18 January 2015, 12 per cent of electricity in Great Britain was generated from wind farms. This data is made available by National Grid and only refers to wind which is operationally metered, i.e. around two-thirds of the installed wind capacity in Great Britain.

Cabinet Office

Population

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of population growth in the United Kingdom over the last 10 years has been the result of immigration or the natural increase of the immigrant population.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proportion of United Kingdom population growth ascribed to international migration in the population projections published by the Office for National Statistics includes future births to migrants already living in the United Kingdom.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the impact on projected population growth of births to migrants already living in the United Kingdom.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the projected population growth in England over the next 25 years would be attributable to immigration if the children of all migrants were also included.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans for the next publication of population estimates or projections to set out the full impact of immigration, including the natural increase due to immigrants already in the United Kingdom, on the growth of the United Kingdom population.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what basis immigration assumptions have been adopted in population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics; how such assumptions have compared against immigration levels actually experienced; and what is the basis for any difference between assumptions and actual levels.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UK Statistics Authority Reply 
(PDF Document, 166.02 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Satellite Broadcasting

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for satellite broadcasters to pay retransmission fees for the programmes they broadcast from terrestrial television.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government will be publishing a consultation document in due course examining the current balance of payments between broadcasters and platforms and the prominence of PSBs on Electronic Programme Guides. The Connectivity, Consumers & Content strategy paper set out the Government’s ambition for “zero net fees”, and a lot of progress has been made towards reaching that goal. However we want to examine whether the amount of regulation around these transactions is really necessary, to ensure broadcasters can deliver the highest quality content, at the best possible price, to the widest possible audience.